


On My Side

by marble_hearse



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bisexual Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Castiel's Nickname is Cas (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Chuck Shurley is Not God, Dean and Cas enjoy having Impala sex after a while, Eileen Leahy Lives, Eileen Leahy Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester Fluff, F/M, It's For a Case, Jack is God, Jack saves everyone, M/M, Post Inherit The World, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, cas comes back, the longest slow burn in history
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27558925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marble_hearse/pseuds/marble_hearse
Summary: After Chuck’s near ending of the world, Jack is left the new God and Chuck is left human. The problem is, everyone’s turning up alive, but Cas is still gone. Eileen is still gone. Who knows? Maybe Jack is letting things stay the way they’re supposed to be. What’s dead stays dead. That always sat right with Dean, it was natural order, it was how things were supposed to work. Now? No, not now. There was unfinished business. Not that anyone knew or would ever know, but there was a certain clutch around his chest every time he saw a trench coat. He hallucinated visions of Castiel every time he walked down the street. Maybe Castiel was supposed to stay dead, but it didn’t sit well with Dean and he wasn’t going to pretend it did. He just wanted him back, the only one who’d ever consistently been on his side.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter One

The clink of a bottle hitting the Bunker table had become all to familiar for the last lonely two inhabitants. Riding around to view the world had seemed great, fun, fantastic. Until of course they remembered the world they lived in. Remembered what their duty was, just what they were on earth to do. The refreshing part? They willingly drove their morales into the ground this time instead of doing it because they were forced to. It was an upgrade, sure, but it still made the brothers miserable to know that no matter what they did they couldn’t escape. 

Still, work could only distract Dean from the present situation so much. The man let out a heavy sigh before lifting the bottle back to his lips, taking a hearty swig before putting it down once more and tracing his fingers endlessly over the carving of Castiel’s name. He couldn’t stop saying it over and over in his head. Castiel. Castiel. Castiel. Oddly enough, he thought enough and his jaw would set and his eyebrows would knit. Sometimes his head would turn to the side, just a little tendency of Cas that he had picked up. Why did everything come back to Cas? Every waking thought started and ended with Cas. He had to pull his hand away as he thought about what had been done the past couple of weeks. Chuck was human. Moseying around Earth, bleeding red, just as mortal and vulnerable as the rest of the sorry fuckers he forgot about. Well, maybe. If he hadn’t already got overwhelmed by the thought and killed himself, or someone else hadn’t killed him. The thought was almost satisfying to Dean. Sure, he wasn’t the ultimate killer as Chuck had called him, but after everything Chuck had done to him, he only felt it justified.

Then there was Cas again. The fact that The Empty had killed him, taken the one thing so near and dear to Dean and just... Gone. It wasn’t just the fact that he was gone, it was what he said before he disappeared. Dean couldn’t breathe thinking about it. The way he’d just looked, and begged Cas to stop talking because he didn’t want it to end like that. He’d been waiting for seven years or more just to hear those few words, and he’d watched Cas cry like Cas had never cried before. He’d heard the angel’s voice break in ways he’d only dreamed of the nights he’d wake up sticky. He wished he would’ve said it. He wished he would have said anything other than what he said, at least told him goodbye. But he didn’t, and he was sure the sting would never leave. The only things he had left of Cas had been Jack and the jacket with the blood print on it. Now Jack had soaked up God juice and bailed on them, and even the kid had started growing on Dean. He didn’t let it show, it wouldn’t be fair after everything he’d said and done to Jack, but he couldn’t say he hated the kid anymore. Guess he wasn’t a kid anymore though.

The jacket on the other hand remained on Dean’s bed. Whenever he was in the comfort of his own room, the door locked where Sam couldn’t get in, he’d pull it up to lay beside him. Sometimes he’d wake up with it clutched between his fingers, but no one had to know. Any time they had to leave the bunker, Dean would slip it on his body. Sam would lightly chide him for wearing it, say they’d get questioned by police for the blood on the jacket, but Dean didn’t care. Let them try to arrest them he’d say. He lifted the bottle to his lips once more and gulped. The more he drank, the less his brain worked. The burn and the pain from his liver trying to keep up with him felt real. It felt justified. After everything that happened, this felt real, and it made everything else feel not so real anymore. Until he couldn’t feel anything, until his body slowly leaned to the side and his eyes slowly closed and he was just lost in the oblivion of his self hatred and wasting away. Chuck may not have been writing his story anymore, but this was a trick he’d most definitely retained.


	2. Rugaru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A routine case. A way to get Dean’s mind off of Cas, to try and live the life Cas had wanted him to live, to honor the man who had sacrificed so much for him, so he could live. It would be a waste to just throw his life away when Cas sacrificed himself for Dean... Not that it was the first time. A routine case... Turns not so routine after all.

“I’ve got a case,” Dean announced, spinning his laptop around to show Sam the screen. “Uh, I don’t think Kung Fu Panda is our kinda case-“ Dean twirled the screen back around to face him, muttering, “not that,” as he switched the tabs and turned it back to him. “This.”

“Uh, okay...” Sam began to review the information on the screen. “Bear attack... In the backyard of a house in South Carolina... Near the coast. Yeah, doesn’t check out. So, what’re you thinking?” Sam tipped his head back to down the rest of his cup of coffee. “Werewolf?” Dean shook his head as he looked between Sam and the computer. “Nothing about a heart missing. Apparently, it wasn’t drained of blood either. Not a werewolf or vamp. There were however large chunks of meat missing from... Various parts of the body. I gotta hunch, but I say we go check it out first.” Sam nodded in agreement. “Alright. I’ll check and make sure we got the essentials in the car, you...” The larger man scrunched up his nose. “Need to take a shower.”

“I do not need to take a shower,” Dean defended as he raised an arm and made a face before he even sniffed. Apparently his self care had gone to hell in a handbasket. “Alright, I’ll go take a shower,” he agreed as he stood and made his way back to his quarters. He slowed down as he passed Cas’ room, sighing as he decided to push his way inside and scan it for a second. He saw a small box sitting on Cas’ desk and he crossed the room to let his fingers rest on it. After a sad chuckle, he picked it up and turned it over onto the back. Another small strip of tape read, ‘Gift: Keep’. After his shower, he came back to get it and slip it into his jacket pocket. 

As Dean slid into the driver’s seat of his beloved Baby, Sam had a much more pleasant look on his face at the improvement of Dean’s scent. He watched as Dean pulled the old cassette player out, sticking a tape in it and pressing play. From the distanced look in Dean’s eyes, he didn’t ask about what the songs were or where he’d gotten it. Besides, he recognized it from Cas’ room. Sam slowly leaned back into his seat, buckling up and getting ready for the long drive down to South Carolina.

After rotating off on a full 24 hour drive, the brothers pulled into a morgue in the city of Charleston. Dean had actually been excited about visiting the beach, but that excitement quickly faded when everything smelled like rotting fish and trash. Upon entering the morgue, Dean flashed his badge and stated loudly, “Agent Collins, FBI. This is my partner, Agent Vick. We’re here about Mr. Todd Johnson.” 

The sheriff nodded and led them to the back as he began to retell what had went down. “We get a call from his wife, Ally. Poor woman’s absolutely distraught, came home from the courthouse to find her husband dead in the backyard. It was gory, leaf blower still going, skin and bits and pieces spread all over the lawn, I would’ve hated to be the CSI in charge of cleaning that one up. Anyways, we chocked it up to a bear attack, but there’s one other problem. Todd’s best friend, Anthony Lown, he’s been missing for a few days. Now people get bored of Charleston all the time, leave on fishing trips and whatnot, but Anthony is a very big family man. His wife is expecting their first child, his sister just had her third, he just got a promotion at work, it’s... Unlike him to disappear like this. Especially when his best friend just died... I hope I’m simply overthinking, I grew up in church with Anthony, his wife, Ally, Todd. The entire bunch of them.” The man said as he pushed open the door. “Anyways. Room’s all yours fellas. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

Dean entered the room, shutting the door behind him and breathing a sigh of relief. “Is it Southern hospitality or an inability to shut up?” He asked as he rolled up his sleeves and put on gloves. He peeled back the sheet and actually gagged at the sight, placing the sheet right back on his body. “You got any guesses?” He asked his brother, hoping he never had to look at that sight again. 

“Uh, yeah, actually. The other guy, uh, Anthony, yeah? Wife is pregnant, dude goes missing, his best friend shows up half digested. Sounds like a Rugaru to me. I say we show up and talk to the wife, get the details from the sheriff and head down there.” Dean slowly nodded in agreement with what his brother was saying. “This is why you’re the smart one,” he said in an almost teasing manner as he went to go speak with the sheriff and get the address. 

—

Dean listened to the ding of the doorbell, standing back and waiting for the door to open. A few moments later, a woman with pixie cut red hair and dark brown eyes pushed open the door. “Hello...” She said cautiously. The door was barely cracked, and Dean could see the slight raise to her stomach. “Can I help you gentlemen?” It was Sam that spoke first, smiling and holding up his badge. “Farrah, hi. I’m Agent Vick, this is Agent Collins, my partner. We came to ask you a few questions regarding your husband and Mr. Todd Johnson.” The woman in question, Farrah, got a sad look in her eyes and moved off to the side. “Of course, come in, sit.” She motioned for the two men to join her in the living room. She closed the door and sat down. 

“Now, are you aware of what’s happened to Todd?” Sam asked, earning a dejected and almost disgusted nod. “A bear attack. Graphic if I heard correctly.” Sam nodded in response before pressing, “and your husband has been missing for a few days, correct?” Farrah slowly nodded, “but Anthony wouldn’t do anything like that... I mean, how could he?” That’s when Dean interjected. “Before Anthony disappeared, was he acting any different?”

The look on the woman’s face was one they had seen a million times. Embarrassment, shame, disbelief that the things she had noticed could actually be anything or mean anything less than her overreacting and overthinking. “Anything helps. Anything at all.” Sam slowly pressed.

The woman sighed before casting her eyes down to her lap. “Well, there is something... It’s crazy, but a few days before he went missing, I noticed him... Eating... Raw hamburger meat. He’s acted strange since I told him we were expecting. I figured it was just parental panic, but it’s gotten so much worse, it... He just feels strange... Felt.” She corrected, looking over at a photo that was on a side table. “He talks a lot about his father, a lot more than he did in the past. And he’s so... Hungry. Sometimes I’ll make him his lunch, and I’ll find out that he got a snack from work and then bought something to eat out. That’s just... That’s not right, he’s never had this big of an appetite before.”

“Have you found out the sex of your baby?” Dean questioned, now catching on to what was happening. “Um... Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I couldn’t hold back from asking... We’re having a daughter.” Sam and Dean both breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn’t have to torch a baby. Sam rubbed his hands on his pants and looked up at Farrah. “Well, thank you for your time. If you need anything else, just call us, okay?” He handed her his card before the brothers both left the house.

“Rugaru,” Sam said to which Dean nodded and answered, “oh hell yeah. So, now, we just have to hunt down a Rugaru. Finally get to break out the torch again,” after everything they had been through, it almost comforted Dean in a sick way to know he could get revenge on something. 

—

After a few more days in South Carolina, Dean’s phone rang. It was Anthony’s wife, her voice shaky and traumatized as she whispered, “I need you here. Right now. He’s here, I saw him, he’s got the sheriff. He’s begging me to let him in, please, I’m scared he’s going to hurt me.” Dean had jumped in the front seat of Baby with a blowtorch in the backseat and Sam in the passenger’s side. He sped to the address, probably hitting speed bumps so hard that his car left the ground for a few seconds. 

Once he reached the craftsman style home, he noticed the sheriff in the grass struggling and barely holding on to life. He urgently told Sam to take care of him while he grabbed the torch and ran into the busted open door, hearing Farrah screaming and her husband yelling, begging for her to just listen. That was enough for Dean to skip steps, thundering to the second floor. “Get away from her!” He demanded.

“Please!” The man shouted, raising his hands to show that -at least for now- he meant no harm to either his wife or Dean. “You don’t understand, I’m- I’m trying to get better, I-“ Dean saw a freshly drawn blood sigil on the ground, probably using the blood of the sheriff. “Yeah, then why do we have some kind of spell going on here?” He insisted, not relaxing his grip or his intense stare. 

“Because I don’t want to be like this!” Anthony screamed, very obviously passionate and upset. “I... I was in the process of making a deal with a crossroad’s demon. That if he could... If he could make my child human that I’d give him my soul, but I don’t...” A bitter chuckle. “Don’t necessarily have a soul. I just... I want to be here for my child, and I know I can’t... I don’t want to see him or her die.”

“Well, good news for you pal. Rugaru’s, people like you, they’re all male. And you’re having a daughter, so you ain’t got much to worry about there. What’s your next excuse?” The man was obviously shocked -but not displeased- by the proclamation that he was having a girl. “We agreed that if it was a girl, then I would get to be human... So I could raise my child... But then, then the demon died. I saw it with my own eyes, just got... Obliterated. After I did some research, I found out that demon’s go to a strange place called The Empty... I was trying to summon The Empty, or create a passageway to get there. You don’t understand, this... Being like this, it isn’t my choice. I just want to be with Farrah and raise my child...”

Dean’s focus had fallen out of his story already... They could summon The Empty... This monster had figured out how to summon The Empty. “And that’s all you want to do? Create a way to get this demon back so you can finish your deal?” Anthony nodded. “He told me I’d need to become a full Rugaru for it to work. He told me he couldn’t give me a soul but he could collect another soul and give it to me. So I... I killed Todd so I’d be able to have a soul. I’ve already bent so many rules, unless I get into The Empty... Unless I get to The Empty, I’ll never get to see Annalise grow up.” 

It seemed to Dean like Anthony could be rather useful for him. “Okay. Well see, the thing is pal, I’ve got someone in The Empty too. An angel. And there’s some uh-“ Dean’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “There’s some unfinished business. I don’t know where you found this spell, God knows I’ve been searching all over for it, but if this is legit, I want in. Consider it payment for letting you live after you killed a poor bastard. You let me piggy back off of you, you help me out, and I’ll get you back home.”

The Rugaru seemed stunned to still be left alive, much less to have a deal with the hunter and a shot at a real life. “Okay... Okay.” He said more sure of himself, straightening up and looking from Dean to the spell on the floor. “I’ll help you.”


End file.
